WASHINGTON, July 12, 2017 — In response to a request from Kimberly Viers, Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) acting State Executive Director in Missouri, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 24 counties in Missouri as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by excessive rainfall and flooding that occurred from April 24, 2017, through May 11, 2017.

USDA Designates 24 Counties in Missouri as Primary Natural Disaster Areas with Assistance to Producers in Surrounding States

Latawnya Dia202-720-7962Latawnya.Dia@wdc.usda.gov

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2017 — In response to a request from Kimberly Viers, Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) acting State Executive Director in Missouri, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 24 counties in Missouri as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by excessive rainfall and flooding that occurred from April 24, 2017, through May 11, 2017. Those counties are:

Bollinger

Jasper

Pemiscot

Butler

Jefferson

Phelps

Cape Girardeau

Laclede

Pulaski

Crawford

Madison

Ripley

Dunklin

Maries

Ste. Genevieve

Franklin

Miller

St. Louis

Gasconade

Montgomery

Stoddard

Iron

Osage

Wayne

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Missouri also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:

Audrain

Dallas

Newton

Scott

Barton

Dent

Oregon

Texas

Callaway

Lawrence

Perry

Warren

Camden

Lincoln

Pike

Washington

Carter

Moniteau

Reynolds

Webster

Cole

Morgan

St. Charles

Wright

Dade

New Madrid

St. Francois

St. Louis City

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas and Tennessee also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:

ArkansasClay, Craighead, Greene, Mississippi and Randolph

IllinoisAlexander, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Union

KansasCherokee and Crawford

TennesseeDyer and Lake

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on July 6, 2017, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for FSA’s emergency (EM) loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.